"From a trade union perspective, HB 56 is emblematic of the U.S. government's failure to respect its obligations to protect and defend the right to form and join trade unions, and to bargain collectively," the complaint stated.

SEIU has 1,105 members in Alabama and more than 2.1 million members nationwide. The union claims on its website that it represents more immigrant workers than any other union in the United States.

"We believe that the U.S. government's inability to act promptly and decisively to put in place a national policy related to immigration -- attentive to international guarantees related to individual rights as well as to the rights of trade unions with immigrant members -- has given the space to individual states to enact laws that are in flagrant violation of international norms," stated a letter attached to the complaint from SEIU President Mary K. Henry and SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Eliseo Medina.

A spokesman for Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley denied the allegations.

"Alabama's immigration law simply seeks to ensure that people who live and work in this state are doing so legally, and there is nothing unjust about that," Jeremy King, spokesman for the governor, stated in an email.

"We agree that federal leaders should comprehensively address immigration reform," King wrote. "So far, the federal government has refused to do so, and that has made it necessary for several states, including Alabama, to craft immigration laws."

Appeals for repeal

SEIU and other unions have targeted large car manufacturers to ask them to get behind the effort to repeal HB 56.

A delegation of civil rights and labor leaders are gathering in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday to ask Daimler AG shareholders to urge Alabama to repeal its immigration law.

According to a statement from SEIU on Monday, Daimler, which makes Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Alabama, is a founding signatory of the UN Global Compact that calls on businesses to make sure they are not complicit in human rights abuses. "Until now, Daimler and Mercedes-Benz have been silent on this law which violates human rights, even though one of its German executives was arrested under the Alabama law," according to the statement.

In November, a German manager with Mercedes-Benz was arrested during a traffic stop for violating the immigration law for not having proper identification. He was released after an associate retrieved his passport, visa and German driver's license from the hotel where he was staying.

Mercedes did not respond to requests Monday for comments on the complaint and SEIU statements.

A delegation of civil rights and labor leaders also attended a Hyundai shareholders meeting in Seoul, South Korea, on March 16. Hyundai has a vehicle manufacturing plant in Montgomery.

While Alabama's immigration law doesn't specifically address trade unions, it does affect SEIU and its ability to recruit members or organize because of fear among both legal and illegal immigrant workers, according to the complaint.

'Chilling effects'

Medina said the union's diverse membership could be subject under HB 56 to stops by police wanting to see their papers or to being charged for giving a ride to an illegal immigrant, even one who is a relative. All those types of provisions in Alabama's law "have chilling effects on members and their families," he said."

Medina said he would like to see the UN's ILO come to Alabama to investigate and verify SEIU's claims and then intervene with the federal government to resolve the issues.

The U.S. Justice Department, a group of religious leaders, and Hispanic groups and individuals filed lawsuits to stop HB 56 from going into effect. A federal court and appeals court have stayed certain parts of the law from being enforced while the lawsuits are pending. Alabama legislators are expected to consider making some changes to the law.